Person of the Week: Julie Andrews

There’s more to Julie Andrews than Mary Poppins and Maria von Trapp. Andrews has been delighting audiences since her early childhood and has dazzled people around the world with her amazing talent for almost her entire life.

Andrews was born October 1, 1935 to Barbara Wells. Barbara’s husband, Ted Wells, was not the child’s father. Young Julie’s mother was a driven woman with aspirations of becoming a big-time star. She was able to achieve some measure of stardom with her second husband, Ted Andrews. As Julie grew up, she was often allowed to perform with her parents. Soon, Julie was a big part of the act and was attracting a lot of attention.

Miss Andrews would soon study with voice instructor Madame Lilian Stiles-Allen who would proudly announce that the girl had perfect pitch—a claim which Andrews herself often modestly has refuted. However, Julie Andrews talent was unquestionable and she achieved her professional solo debut at the London Hippodrome, earning herself a Royal command performance for Kign George VI, Queen Elizabeth and his daughters Princess Elizabeth and Margaret Rose.

A career on the London stage soon followed with a stand-out role in the London musical, “The Boy Friend.” As the run of “The Boy Friend” concluded, in 1955, Andrews was asked to audtion for the starring role in the American Broadway production of “My Fair Lady.” Andrews clearly won the part and was quickly celebrated as the new darling of Broadway. However, when Jack L. Warner launched the film version of the play, he found Andrews to not be popular enough to attract American movie goers and cast Audrey Hepburn (whose singing was dubbed in post production) as Eliza. Later, as she accepted the Golden Globe in 1962 for Mary Poppins (a role which also won her an Academy Award), Andrews thanked Warner for passing her over in favor of Hepburn, stating that had he not, she would not have had to opportunities to achieve the success on stage, film and television in the U.S. that she had.

Though, like most people in show business, Andrew’s career has had its highs and lows, she has continued to remain a favorite of both British and American audiences to this day. She continues to act and has recently begun to sing again following a long recovery from botched throat surgery.

Whenever I think of Julie Andrews, I think of her performance in the biopic of Gertrude Lawrence’s life, “Star!” in which she sings, “Burlington Bertie from Bow”—a favorite around our house for obvious reasons. Below, you’ll find two clips from “Star!” The first is “Burlington Bertie from Bow.” The second is “My Ship.”

For her many decades of brilliant performances and for the unending delight she’s brought many generations of audiences, Julie Andrews is our “Person of the Week.”